Notice how this still obeys the rule. This is just a toolbar, no menubar in sight, unless you collapse the ribbon, then it becomes just a menubar without a toolbar in sight.
The Microsoft ribbon is somehow less obscene than what 99% of Qt apps do today, and I’m not even joking.
It’s an Airacast reboot! We return to our monthly format with some Aira history and deep thought about technology, discrimination, AI and life with Mike Hinson.
So many explorers tell us that Mike motivated them to try the service. Now we look back over 10 years and forward to what AI brings us. Jenine also reviews how to find Access Network offers and use Aira for free!
You can contact Mike at speaker@michaelhingson.com. Visit his web site, michaelhingson.com. Catch his podcast, Unstoppable Mindset, in your podcast app of choice.
Comments about the podcast? Email us at airacast@aira.io.
Episode Notes
It’s an Airacast reboot! We return to our monthly format with some Aira history and deep thought about technology, discrimination, AI and life with Mike Hinson. So many explorers tell us that Mike motivated them to try the service.
The web platform has been missing an imperative way to let users of assistive technology know that something has changed on the page, when no DOM changes occurred.
Gosh, learn about some #Google experiment or other every day. Here is one for you, #music enthusiassts, called Song Maker, (don't forget a MIDI keyboard to your CHrome setup): musiclab.chromeexperiments.com…
In our latest update, the BT Speak editor now recognizes markdown links in text files, which can open web links, files, audio, and other resources. Headings, bulleted and numbered lists are also supported. Files with a .md extension automatically enable Markdown rendering, but you can turn this feature on or off on any file using a hotkey. blazietech.com/may-2025-update
I really want to like Linux, but there's one bug that's absolutely killing it for me and making me want to switch back to Windows. If I'm typing in VS Code and an autocomplete pops up, Orca is yanked out of focus mode even if I have it set to sticky. So let's say I'm quickly typing .clone() in some Rust code. I type ., this pops up the autocomplete, I get c in before the mode switches...then it switches. So Orca then tries to go to the next (l)ist, next large (o)bject, n gets passed through to the document because there's no structural nav command...by the time I realize we're well and thoroughly off to clusterfuck city, my document contains .cn and focus is gods know where. This can happen multiple times per line if I'm unlucky. It happens less now that I've disabled Copilot for unrelated reasons, but I'm having to be much more intentional about typing code very quickly to minimize this happening.
Is there a workaround for this? If Windows didn't feel like an absolute hostile landscape of "we're going to treat this computer and the data on it like it isn't yours whether you like it or not," I'd still be there.
Tell me not to use VS Code and I'll block you. Sorry, absolutely not in the mood. Also don't want to disable autocomplete.
Yeah, that's part of why I'm sticking with it in spite of how infuriating it is. Also possible it's fixed in GNOME 48/newer Orca but NixOS stable is still on 47 and I'm holding off on updating until it's at least beta. That and capslock state are my biggest papercuts and I'm looking forward to the latter going away soon too.
Not yet, still kind of in frantic moving mode right now and tossing it out on Masto was a lower-effort way of seeing if anyone else hit this and had a fix. Will probably do that in a few weeks when dust settles a bit more.
This isn't really what you asked so you have every right to tell me to fuck off, but the way I prefer to rock Windows these days is with Windows IoT LTSC builds. You get no store, no copilot, no bloat. My good friend Brandon Tyson has also put together a blog post outlining how to make Windows run smoothly after a fresh install, or just in general. This includes disabling telemetry. btprojects.samtupy.com/blog/po… if you want to learn more about Windows IoT LTSC, look here: massgrave.dev/windows_ltsc_lin…
That's actually fine--I'd really rather not go back unless I have to, but if I'm forced to because of access issues then I'm butchering it to keep out Copilot and whatever else they might shove down our throats in the future. Thanks for this, bookmarked.
@Tamasg Actually I think that might not necessarily be an Orca issue, but rather a bug recently introduced in VSCode. I'm having a very similar bug on macOS while typing, where the editor loses focus as soon as auto complete pops up. In VO the workaround is to disable cursor tracking, not sure if Orca might offer something similar.
Interesting, yeah, that's also part of why I asked. Not sure if this issue is Orca-specific, fixed in a newer version, etc. Thanks, might be worth filing with VS Code.
It'd help if ARIA autocompletes weren't a complete nightmare. I keep meaning to write a blog post about this and never getting around to it. I even came up with (what I think is) a cool title: Woe-ARIA: Focus defeated when autocompleted I have ideas for solutions, but the problem is that it's a really hard problem to fix without breaking backwards compatibility.
If you switch to the insider version, it’s fixed there. Apparently they changed the role for the auto complete results which worked fine on windows but caused issues on Mac. Might fix Linux as well, but I don’t know for sure.
this is a great tip! I do use VS code for Mac at work from time to time especially when running any of our internal docker stuff and making changes to repos that use it, so being stuck without good autocomplete there would be unfortunate.
Oh thanks, that's amazing and what I was hoping to get from posting this. I'll probably join the Orca lists and such and be more active soon, I'm just neck-deep in moving and other life logistics now and don't have the time.
So if I'm reading this thread correctly, the issue isn't in Orca but is instead in VS Code, and is now fixed in Insiders, at least on macOS? Asking because if it is Orca but just hasn't been filed yet, I'll put doing so on my todo list when my life isn't an absolute pile next month.
The May 2025 BT Speak update allows you to open PDF files. When you open a PDF file, it gets copied as a text file so that you can read it in our editor. If the PDF is a scanned image, BT Speak will perform OCR and will convert the recognized version into text. blazietech.com/may-2025-update
If you've ever wondered how we prioritize the front and backend features on our development roadmap - and how we're going to improve on delivering our highest priority items - the latest State of the Thunder has answers!
Thanks for adding State of the Thunder to the Thundercast feed! I was subscribed to the tilvids feed and the Thundercast feed and kind of confused by getting double episodes until I understood what happened. Now I don't need to stream the video just to listen to the audio 🙂
@wsha You're so welcome! We know some people just want the audio feed, and we'll be sure to do what we can with descriptions and show notes to keep State of the Thunder and Community Office Hours audio-friendly! This seemed like a great way to bring back the Thundercast feed right now and we're glad you agree. 😊
In the May 2025 update, version 1.1 of our users’ manual is now available under Options, Help, Guides and Tutorials. It has many additions since the last update and it also includes headings, allowing for heading navigation. Because the manual loads in our new smart reader, this means that you can search for text and you can copy part or all of the manual and paste it into a new file. This also means that if you paste the manual into a file with a .brl extension, you’ll have a translated version of the manual according to the Braille table you are using. blazietech.com/may-2025-update DG #BTSpeak #blind
As a culmination of the big journey of the past weeks, the Wafrn App is now listed in the official @unifiedpush documentation as one of the apps that support UnifiedPush
This is a non-exhaustive list of the first few end-user applications that use UnifiedPush.
Android Name Description Date Since version Docs¹ FluffyChat Matrix chat January 2021 v0.26.
Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025. Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer. But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again?
Check out the End of 10 initiative to learn more! If you know anyone else who might find this useful, share it with them!
I've started a journey the last few days to convert all my personal devices to consumer Linux and more secure phone OS options. I'm done having AI slop shoved in my face, privacy concerns and Microsoft Recall announced was the last straw.
@digital_justice_society @catnip @organvoid this looks like the perfect initiative for what we were looking at doing! Would be great to get any other local efforts listed on there so they can all be promoted in one go
At the start of the first Covid19 lockdown in the UK, I gave my granddaughter a second hand laptop on request.
It was actually a cast off from a customer, so already at least three years old. I put Kubuntu on it (OK not Gnome but the message remains the same).
It turns out it is still in use and I remotely advanced it from Ubuntu 20.04 through 22.04 to 24.04. Over wifi at both ends, ssh and a SOCKS proxy.
In my attic I have an elderly Dell server with a supported Debian based distro on it (Proxmox). It used to run VMware. I'm an ex-VMware fanboi with 25+ years experience.
MS can burn (bugger: I run a MS Silver Partner). Oh well, MS can still burn and so can VMware (Broadcom).
the last IT technician i sent my lappy decided i need a new device, tightened hinges so i broke screen and need new lappy. Hate you stupid Bill gates king of the windows!
browsing Ebay, I saw "Linux preloaded SSD/NVMe" listings. Not a bad idea? easy to reverse, less risks, doesn't need a location/event.
Challenges? not all hardware has easy access to disk/ssd/nvme, initializing user encryption, prop. Nvidia drivers, capital, warranty, fulfilment, (return) shipments.
The May 2025 update for the BT Speak offers an even more versatile clipboard. First, you can cut, copy and paste across applications in both desktop mode as well as in traditional mode. For example, you can copy a block of text from Thunderbird or LibreOffice and paste that text into our editor. Not only that but the paste operation honors your Braille translation setting. As an example, you could write a document in our editor in Grade 2 or UEB, copy that document to the clipboard and paste it in a LibreOffice document as plain text. The reverse is also true: copy a block of text from a Web browser and paste it into a Grade 2 file and the text will be pasted in Grade 2 Braille. Call us or visit our Web site for more information.
WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg has suggested that accessibility improvements could be developed as a canonical plugin to help contributors respond more quickly to the needs of users who rely on assistive technologies.
Smart input is a new BT Speak feature that lets you use natural language to type keystrokes and commands when you're in desktop mode. For example, if you want to close a program or save a document, just type "Close" or "save" and the command is sent. You can also type keystrokes, such as control a or alt+f4.
I'm looking for my next role as a program manager, team lead, or senior developer.
- 20+ years in open source - 6 years experience in web dev with #Python, #Django, HTML, bootstrap - 7 years experience in C, Linux kernel, embedded systems
My passions lie at the intersection of open source software development and creating welcoming spaces for people to learn and grow.
I'm currently the program manager for a technical internship program. I work remotely with a team of 4 people in New York, Brazil, and Nigeria.
Looking for a fully remote role. I'm open to relocation outside the USA.
The May 2025 update for the BT Speak is now live!! Features include: a more versatile clipboard that extends across traditional and desktop mode and which even back and forward translates what gets pasted, depending on the Braille table being used
More standard commands in the editor, such as ctrl+c for copy, ctrl+v for paste, etc.
an NFB Newsline app
Help files and the welcome screen now allow for headings and links, making them more interactive
Hey David, I'm sorry if this is a basic question but how do I write numbers again? I am trying to type the number for NFB newsline oh, BTW, great update, I just got it.
@gocu54 Hi, Nick, and no question is too basic. 😊 How you enter numbers depends on what locale you're using and whether or not you have your BT Speak set to enter Braille using literary or computer Braille. The default is computer Braille input, which is using the lower numbers in the Braille cell, such as dot 2 for 1, dots 2-3 for 2, dots 2-5 for 3, etc. Try that but let us know if you run into issues. DG
@gocu54 First, we need to determine what your Braille input mode is set to by going to Options, Settings, Braille Settings, Change the Input Prompt mode and set it to "Expect Computer Braille" and see if that fixes the problem.
Also, we should determine what locale you are using. You can go to Options, Operating System, System Administration, Customize This BT Speak, Change the Locale. When you do this, what locale option is it pointing to?
That's it. I've had it. I'm putting my foot down on this craziness.
1. Every reporter submitting security reports on #Hackerone for #curl now needs to answer this question:
"Did you use an AI to find the problem or generate this submission?"
(and …
I love the "Oh yeah? Well, AI will actually do this *better* than you! Someday! Honest!" comments. They provide yet another pool of people to perma-block.
The only thing the "ai" verified was that the diff in the report doesn't apply, it doesn't even manage to get/build curl with http3 support. What a waste of time, $1.50 and resources
Manus is a general AI agent that turns your thoughts into actions. It excels at various tasks in work and life, getting everything done while you rest.
This thing works by generating fake vulnerability reports. Here are some of the qualities of the HackerOne report 3125832 sent to #curl: - It looks convincing at a glance, especially if you're not a subject matter expert. - It's vague about actual repro steps. It makes it impossible for the victim project to reproduce the issue. For example, it makes up fake patches against non-existent, imaginary code. - It refers to functions and methods that do not exist (in case someone tries to look for them). When confronted, the attacker refer to some old or new versions of components, using non-existent commit hashes. - The report makes up some convincing functionality or names that are novel, but don't really exist.
An expert’s look at the report shows the number of discrepancies, but finding them takes time and effort. It requires attention from a subject matter expert, with limited resources.
The real exploit here is that the attacker (evilginx) exploits the fact that the victims (the orgs who paid the attacker money) don't have the capacity to perform thorough analysis and rather just pay up. TL;DR: It's cheaper to pay the bug bounty than hire an expert to perform true analysis.
Why didn't it work against the curl project? The attacker miscalculated badly. Curl project is not a company and has far greater capability in security response than your average org. Also they can smell #aislop miles away.
this whole AI thing has made me think a lot about human intelligence and how boundless and amazing it is. they're spending a trillion dollars to build a machine that can do 0.01% of what a human can do, and there are 8 billion of us, plus we can just make more by **having sex**
AI vulnerability/bug founds and reports is a huge problem. Curl has banned the use of AI-generated submissions via HackerOne because none of it made any sense, and is a waste of resources and time. "We are effectively being DDoSed. If we could, we would charge them for this waste of our time" hackerone.com/reports/3125832
If you are going to read one and ONLY one article about the state of the US, why trans people in particular are under threat, with historical and contemporary analysis, please PLEASE read and share this article about a historian who is trans and has neurodivergent children, and why she is painfully packing up and exiting the US: damemagazine.com/2025/04/29/wh…
My family is fleeing the country. We are not doing this in a panic; this is an orderly retreat from an unwinnable situation. We are slowly but surely packing up and emptying out our house.
Together with 39 orgs & 42 experts, our founder Matthias Pfau calls on the EU in an @edri open letter for a scientific evidence-based approach to #encryption 🔒
Encryption ensures integrity of ANY communication. Literally whole internet is based on it. If you temper with it at any point, it's not secure anymore. There is no "good guys" in encryption that should have the keys to peek inside. It's just encryption from start to end uninterrupted. Literally the fundamental part of everything online, secure shopping, secure voting, secure communication, private or of business nature.
❗Takže vážení, pondělí je po prodlouženém víkendu ještě kritičtější než obvykle. Kdo si dá po obědě malou mentální rozcvičku, rozhodně neprohloupí! Ale nesmíte na sebe moc chvátat. Stačí třeba vyjmenovat herce v Sedmi statečných nebo tak něco. 👇😊
Good Morning Good Monday I hope you all have a good start to the day and an even better middle, and end. Be well, stay safe, stay strong, and look for the good
Zum Europäischen Protesttag 📢 zur Gleichstellung von Menschen mit Behinderungen am 5. Mai 2025 haben wir ein Schild ℹ️ gebastelt. Auf einer Station der öffentlichen Verkehrsmittel haben wir eine taktiles Schild für Menschen mit Seheinschränkung oder Blindheit 👩🦯 angebracht. oskars.org/posts/europaeischer… #make #blind #inklusion #5Mai #barrierefreiheit #protest
Ekonom Igor Lipsic není moc velký optimista, nemá rád úvahy nepodložené čísly a daty a na svět se dívá velmi pragmaticky. V brzký konec ruské války nevěří, a to přesto, že Rusy podle něj čekají fronty před obchody i potravinové lístky.
Linux in a Bit
in reply to Linux in a Bit • • •Notice how this still obeys the rule.
This is just a toolbar, no menubar in sight, unless you collapse the ribbon, then it becomes just a menubar without a toolbar in sight.
The Microsoft ribbon is somehow less obscene than what 99% of Qt apps do today, and I’m not even joking.